1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for assembling wires into electrical connectors to form wire harnesses. In particular, the present invention relates to semi-automatic bench termination equipment for such assembly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Several arrangements have been disclosed for forming electrical harnesses of the type consisting of an electrical connector terminated to a plurality of wires of either the discrete or flat cable type. Various improvements have been made to such apparatus, as well as to the connectors and cables employed in making the harnesses. Commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 698,504 filed Feb. 4, 1985 discloses an improved electrical connector, adapted for mass termination to a plurality of wires. The connector has two rows of terminals placed one on top of the other in a staggered configuration, so as to allow all of the terminals to be mass terminated from a top surface of the connector. The connector also includes an opposed bottom surface having two series of recesses, aligned with the two rows of terminals.
When smaller quantities of electrical harnesses are needed on short notice, fully automatic termination equipment may not be suitable to meet the demand. Accordingly, bench termination equipment is typically provided to form electrical harnesses in these situations. Equipment of this type is intended for small production runs, in that it is less efficient than fully automatic machines, being more labor intensive. Typically, an operator is required to carry out each harness making cycle.
One typical arrangement provided by the owner of the present invention is designated the CAM III machine, a semi-automatic harness making apparatus. In this machine, the operator inserts a discrete wire for each terminal of the electrical connector. The machine feeds a serial succession of connectors before the operator who inserts a wire conductor above the first terminal presented, and operates a switch initiating the termination cycle for a given connector. The machine automatically indexes the connector presenting the next terminal to the operator for a successive termination cycle. Arrangements of this type are not suitable for dual row connectors, in that two termination assemblies must be provided, one for each row.
An example of a machine that does provide single-step mass termination for a dual-row staggered connector is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,091,531 issued May 30, 1978. In that arrangement, an arbor press is provided having a lower stationary tool head, and an opposed upper moveable tool head. A connector having dual-row staggered wire receiving portions is loaded in the upper moveable head. A series of plates having particularly configured upper serrated edges are stacked together in an array which is mounted in the lower tool head. The blades provide terminal supporting, wire inserting, and wire guiding functions. A plurality of discrete wires are then fed between the upper and lower tool heads, and the upper head is lowered, so as to compress the wire between the connector, and the upper edges of the plate array. This machine is adapted for use with a connector having relatively open, unsupported wire receiving portions. It cannot be used with connectors having fully enclosed wire receiving portions, which offer significant advantages in supporting and protecting the terminals received therein.
Another termination apparatus is disclosed in commonly owned Great Britian Patent application No. 8,412,827 filed May 18 1984. The apparatus disclosed is of the wire stitcher type, wherein discrete wires are terminated one at time to a multi-terminal connector. The apparatus includes a single wire feed and terminator head. The connector to which the patent application is directed has two rows of wire receiving terminals, which are staggered in two different directions. The machine includes an indexing table for indexing a connector nest in three mutually orthogonal directions, so as to present a serial succession of terminals at a fixed position beneath the terminator blade. The indexing table for this type of apparatus is complex and somewhat costly, particularly if the wire receiving terminal portions are staggered in only one direction.